Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Detailed fault structure of the 2000 Western Tottori, Japan, earthquake sequence

January 1, 2003

We investigate the faulting process of the aftershock region of the 2000 western Tottori earthquake (Mw 6.6) by combining aftershock hypocenters and moment tensor solutions. Aftershock locations were precisely determined by the double difference method using P- and S-phase arrival data of the Japan Meteorological Agency unified catalog. By combining the relocated hypocenters and moment tensor solutions of aftershocks by broadband waveform inversion of FREESIA (F-net), we successfully resolved very detailed fault structures activated by the mainshock. The estimated fault model resolves 15 individual fault segments that are consistent with both aftershock distribution and focal mechanism solutions. Rupture in the mainshock was principally confined to the three fault elements in the southern half of the zone, which is also where the earliest aftershocks concentrate. With time, the northern part of the zone becomes activated, which is also reflected in the postseismic deformation field. From the stress tensor analysis of aftershock focal mechanisms, we found a rather uniform stress field in the aftershock region, although fault strikes were scattered. The maximum stress direction is N107??E, which is consistent with the tectonic stress field in this region. In the northern part of the fault, where no slip occurred during the mainshock but postseismic slip was observed, the maximum stress direction of N130??E was possible as an alternative solution of stress tensor inversion.

Publication Year 2003
Title Detailed fault structure of the 2000 Western Tottori, Japan, earthquake sequence
DOI 10.1785/0120020123
Authors E. Fukuyama, W.L. Ellsworth, F. Waldhauser, A. Kubo
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Index ID 70025835
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse